Session Obession

The following post is from a guest blogger, Paul Marangelo, a musician who hosts The Shoreham Inn session and here’s what he has to say:

I moved to Shoreham almost 6 years ago, realizing fully that I was putting myself in a potentially session-poor geography: smack in the middle of the orchard, dairy, more-cows-than-people belt of Addison County.  And over the first few years here, I did get weary of frequent trips to sessions in Burlington just to scratch my session itch.  But last winter, a chance contact with Cindy from O’Hanleigh co-incided with more serious thoughts I was having of trying to organize a local session.  And  I probably would not have even been thinking of trying to organize a local session if the Shoreham Inn were not across the street from where I live.

Gastropubs were made for sessions.  Or on second thought…. is it the other way around??? The answer is far from clear, but if you come to the ITM session at the Shoreham Inn, you’ll have far better insight to help pin down the solution to this head scratcher than if you pondered it from afar.   Domenic and Molly Francis, proprietors of the Inn, opened the lower floor of the Inn as a gastropub (which is an eatery style that is common in England) when they purchased the Inn about 6 years ago.  The food is great, there is a small bar, and Shoreham just may be the tiniest  village in the world where you can walk in off the street and buy a Guinness on tap.  It’s a great setting for an ITM session.  Every other Sunday, except during the warmer months (one a month) and November (when the Inn is closed), musicians come from as far away as the Burlington area to play here.  Playing at the Inn is almost like playing in a living room.  Cushy sofas threaten to engulf musicians, and have swallowed whistles whole.  There are no TVs to compete with.  Usually chairs in the room not taken up by musicians are be taken up by folks just listening to the music.  Sometimes the listeners overflow and sit on the stairs.   The ambiance is almost quiet at times.  Surprisingly, the session has been evolving into one that is song-intensive – more so than any other that I’ve participated in, which makes the event distinct, varied, and enjoyable.  Patrick Webb and the O’Hanliegh folks show frequently and have a large repitoire of songs that get throwin into the mix.

So for almost a year now, it seems to be working, and there are just enough musicains within a 20 mile raduis of Shoreham to make it work quite well, not counting to the folks who journey down from Burlington for the event farily regularly.  So come on down to Shoreham one Sunday and see what its all about, 6-8 PM.  Contact me to get on the e-mail list (pmarangelo@shoreham.net).

Going to a session is much like a kid going to a play-date. You hope some of your friends will be there, you wonder if they’ll play anything you know and you pray you remember how to play.

For the holidays my husband, my 6-year old step-daughter and I visited my sister who has 2 kids and who had 2 friends over all under the age of 8. As you can imagine it was a bit chaotic. What was interesting was watching these children get to know each other and work out what they had in common, what they were going to play and who was going to be in charge of the group. Sound familiar?

Some of the kids knew each other beforehand and some didn’t so they had to work quickly at reacquainting themselves and finding out their commonalities. It didn’t take long for them to decide to put on a music concert for the adults, complete with dress-up costumes, instruments and lyrics. They figured out quickly what tune they would play, who else knew it and which one would direct.

All dressed up in pink and purple princess dresses, butterfly wings, plastic high heeled shoes and a battery operated “electric” guitar, one of them screamed “Get ready for the rock concert” and so began the show. As they started wiggling their bodies to the tune of “put your hands in the air,” I realized that there was one leading the performers, one singing and playing the music and one just dancing around like she had ants in her pants. But they all seemed to be working together to create one sound.

Though they weren’t playing anything close to Irish music, it did remind me of what playing music is all about. It’s about having fun. It’s about connecting with someone else and sharing something that makes you feel good. Aside from the fact that it was completely adorable, I was blown away by the courage of these little girls to put on a rock concert complete with costumes and written words that took all of about 1/2 hour to conjure up. They were having so much fun and because they were, so were we.

So the next time you find yourself worrying about what you’re going to play and who is going to be there and whether or not you’ll remember your tunes, remember why you started playing in the first place; because its fun. Stop worrying about whether you’ll sound good or if someone else will know the tune you’re playing, play because you love it, play because you want to share the music. Play because you can.

Happy sessioning!

I don’t know about you but Christmas shopping can really try my patience. Too many lines, too many people and I can never find what I want. I’m not sure what you do to calm your Christmas shopping nerves but I did what any good Irish musician would do, I headed to Ri Ra The Irish Pub for a Guinness and some tunes.

There’s really nothing more fun than playing Irish music at an Irish pub, especially after a hard day of, well, shopping (I know, tough life huh?).

This particular session takes place twice a month and luckily it landed on the very day that I decided to unsuccessfully shop for my loved ones.  It was the perfect end to a not-so-perfect day.

Ri Ra is one of my favorite locations for a session. First of all they pour a damn good Guinness and second of all the audience is very welcoming, which isn’t to say audiences aren’t welcoming anywhere else. It just seems like more people feel comfortable tapping their toes or even getting up to dance to Irish music when they’re in an Irish pub. It’s almost expected isn’t it?

Because of the way the building is set up, the session circle feels intimate. They clear the upper level for us, so it’s almost like we have our own little private area to play and yet everyone in the restaurant can hear the music. Though the football games are on in the background many a listeners can be found standing around the stage, clapping at the ends of sets and even cutting up the rug, as they did yesterday. The host Kerry Alley, makes sure everyone gets a chance to start a tune or two. So be sure you have some tunes to share.

Check out photos of the Irish session at Ri Ra here.

As with any session there is no concrete set of tunes to know but if you know any sets from the recording of  Live at Mona’s by Patrick Ourceau, you should be just fine.

If you want to be included on the email list to get a reminder email Kerry_alley@yahoo.com. The session takes place every other week so the next one is Sunday, January 3rd from 5-8pm. Hope to see you there!

If you haven’t yet reached the speed of playing reels at 120bps, then the session at On the Rise Bakery in Richmond is the one for you. The atmosphere is relaxed, the players are welcoming and the session was designed for all players who just want to share a tune or two.

Whether you’re new to the session scene or you’re an experienced session-er, this is a great place to meet new people and play some tunes at a slightly slower pace.

This session emerged from an Irish Session Repertoire class taught by Button Accordionist, Hilari Farrington and Piper, Benedict Koehler, at the Summit School of Traditional Music in Montpelier. The session founders wanted a place to share the tunes they learned in class and explore new ones while also offering a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for those not in the class.

Although different sessions have a different set of core tunes that are frequently played, the fun part of a session is playing a tune and just letting the next one float off your instrument without any planning. However, some of us late learners are not that crafty yet so we plan ahead and practice tune-sets.  Here a list of some of the tunes that you might hear at this session. The tune-sets will not, of course,  be played in this order and might not even be played at all but at least you get the idea. And if you know any of these tunes you can rest assured that if you start one of  them someone else will play along.

• Glen Allen (Kilmaney)/The Old Copperplate
• Cronin’s/Murphy’s
• The Road to Lisdoonvarna/Imelda Rowland’s
• The Lilting Banshee/The Old Favourite
• Dunphy’s/Chief O’Neill’s
• The Wise Maid/Toss the Feathers
• I Buried My Wife and Danced On Her Grave/Will You Come Home With Me?
• Little Fair Canavans/A Fig for a Kiss
• Ballydesmond Polkas
• The Goat On the Green/The Pipe On the Hob/Johnny McGreevy’s
• O’Connell’s Trip to Parliament/The Torn Jacket
• Cooley’s/The Earl’s Chair
• The Hare’s Paw/Knocknagow (Scotch Mary)/Templehouse

Typically the session takes place on the last Thursday of every month though the last couple of months have been a bit mixed. This month’s session is on Monday, December 7th at 7:30pm. Check www.ontherisebakery.net for a full music schedule.

Also, you should know that the bakery will not be serving dinner on Monday. They serve dinner Tues-Sat so eat before you come. You can still enjoy the libations though.

Hope to see you there!